The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has launched a tool to help teachers and community leaders talk with younger Canadians about protecting their privacy online.
The youth presentation package – Protecting Your Online Rep – comes right in time for back-to-school. It offers people who work with youth the information necessary to offer an engaging and effective presentation in their own schools and communities.
“We hope that the presentation package will help encourage young people to think about how they use social networks and other online services,” said Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart in unveiling the new tool. “Our goal is to provide information to young people to allow them to take advantage of all of the benefits that the online world has to offer – without having regrets later.”
The package includes a PowerPoint presentation with detailed speaking notes for each slide, along with class discussion topics, targeted at Grades 9 to 12 (Secondary III to V in Quebec). Educators and others interested in delivering the presentation can find the package at www.youthprivacy.ca
Presentations suitable for Grades 4 to 6 and Grades 7 and 8 (Secondary I and II in Quebec) will be available later in the fall.
Canadian teens are increasingly using online tools to stay in touch with friends, but communicating online can pose risks to their privacy. The new tool will help show them how to build a secure online identity and keep their personal information safe.
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is mandated by Parliament to act as an ombudsman and guardian of privacy in Canada. The Commissioner enforces two federal laws for the protection of personal information: the Privacy Act, which applies to the federal public sector; and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which applies to commercial activities in the Atlantic provinces, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Territories. Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia each has its own law covering the private sector. Even in these provinces, PIPEDA continues to apply to the federally regulated private sector and to personal information in interprovincial and international transactions.